Part 62: Blackwell Deception - Update 20 (Part 1)

Update 20

LAST TIME

Deception Lament





Rosa, clearly under the influence of Gavin, dragged Joey to the eternal void and left him stranded there.

This is extremely bad for several reasons. One, Joey is stuck in the middle of nowhere with no idea how to get back. Two, people under the influence of Gavin have a nasty habit of dying. And three, even if Rosa does survive, she's going to go insane without Joey there helping her to save ghosts.

All in all, we're in massive trouble.



Rosa returns to reality, where Gavin is waiting for her.

Oh yeah. It's done. You were right. I don't think I've ever felt so...
Free?
Yeah.

I'm... assuming Rosa is under Gavin's influence, and isn't just acting of her own accord. Right?

He was holding you back. Why don't you take a seat? I think we've got a lot more to discuss.



Back in the infinite void, Joey bitterly contemplates his fate.



This wasn't how it was supposed to be.

Suddenly, in the emptiness ahead of him, Joey makes out a figure.

Eh? Is there someone there?



Madeline. Of all spooks to run into.

Oh wow, it's her again. I guess... she's still stuck here, even after we helped the Countess to move on.



Hm?
Oh. I see. Mallone, was it? I suppose you arriving here was inevitable. You wouldn't be my first choice of companion, but choices are hard to come by these days.

It seems she still doesn't like Joey after he blamed her for the Countess' actions in Convergence.

What are you doing here?
Doing? What does any lost spirit do? Stare at the universe. Ponder our place in it. Wonder where we went wrong.

Is that all she's been doing for the last several decades?

What do you mean, where you went wrong?
Don't you have any regrets?
Maybe. Too late to worry about 'em now.
Well you will have plenty of time to do just that.

It's hard to get a read on Madeline here. Is she sympathetic, or is she gloating? Probably a mixture of the two.



Your host banished you. Did she not?
No. That's not what happened.

That... that's pretty much what did happen, Joey He sounds like he's trying to deny it to himself, here.

Did she leave you here and close the door behind her?
Well, yeah but-
Then you've been banished. Just like I was.

Wait, is that how the Countess corrupted the bond, all those years ago?

She didn't want to send me here. Not really.
Is that so.
She wasn't in her right mind! I just gotta get through to her.

Madeline doesn't exactly offer encouragement.

And how are you going to do that? It's too late. The link between you is breaking. Soon, it will be gone. And there will be a large empty space in her head where it used to be.



Again, it's hard to get a read on whether she's actually taking enjoyment out of this conversation or not. Madeline is still a very mysterious character at this point.

It happened to my host, many years ago. It will happen to yours.
You should just be grateful you won't have to see it happen.
Wait. Are you telling me that Red is gonna end up... like HER?
Who can say? But yes, I think so.

Maybe it's just me, but this seems like a massive fucking design flaw of this whole medium/spirit guide thing. We saw right back in Legacy that Joey can be taken to Nodespace. Hell, he told Rosa how to take him here, just so he could explain what the area was. He didn't like it there, but it wasn't like it was a big secret. Simply dragging your guide there and then shutting the portal on them seems like it would be really easy to do, perhaps even by accident.

I'm starting to think Gavin might be right - this whole thing seems way too broken to be anything other than an accident of nature.

That's not gonna happen. I won't let it.
And just what are you going to do, little ghost? Rail against the universe? Scream at her through the infinite gap between that world and this? The link is breaking. There is nothing that can be done.

Joey hasn't given up hope yet, though.



You will know when it breaks. It feels like your soul breaking in two.

That's disconcerting Joey takes it as a positive, though.

Hm. So maybe I'm not licked yet.
Perhaps.

So it might still be possible to travel back to Rosa, as long as the link is still intact.

So this link. How do I get through it? Where is it?
It's not a place, Mallone. It's a part of both of you.
Weren't you taught anything?

Wait... "taught"? It doesn't sound like Madeline thinks this whole medium/spirit guide business is an accident of nature. However, as we learned in Legacy, Joey was never told anything.

No. Nobody taught me squat. It was all learn-as-I-go.
And you've lasted this long? Fascinating. Still. You must have used the link several times before now. It's the only way to send on the lost spirits you meet.

Wait... you mean, Joey's necktie? That's the only object that allow Joey to interact directly with Rosa, and it is how they send ghosts on their way. If this were Rosa trapped, rather than Joey, we'd probably have to combine clues here.



Instead, Joey simply shows Madeline his tie.

Hey. When you say "link", do you mean this?
That? Don't be absurd.

Hm. Madeline doesn't seem to think it's right, but Joey is persistent.

Look. You said the link is how we deal with the spooks. Well, we use this.
You use your necktie.
That's what I said.
...

Madeline mulls it over, before beckoning Joey to come over to her.

Come closer. Let me see.

She inspects Joey's tie in amazement.

I have never seen anything like this. You created a mental projection of your link in the form of your necktie.
Sure. Whatever.
How?

I got the impression that the tie was just always there.



Madeline stares incredulously at Joey.

So why haven't you used it to return?
I don't know how.

Wait... we can do that?!

...
I've spent almost a century in this place. Only reaching out to the mortal world in dreams. You have no idea what it has been like. I can show you how to traverse the link. But only if you agree to take me with you.
And why should I do that? The last time we blindly trusted you, you let a killer ghost loose in New York.
That killer ghost is what your precious host will become one day. Remember that.

Joey balks at the deal.

No deal.
Then I leave you to figure it out on your own. I hope you succeed before the link breaks.
Which, incidentally, could occur at any moment.

Doesn't look like we have any choice. And besides, she's probably suffered enough. Joey relents.



Then take my hand.



Shhh. Let me concentrate.

Madeline grasps Joey's hand, and his tie begins to shine a gleaming white light, much to Joey's discontent.



After a while, Madeline accesses the link, and the two of them zap back to reality.

Gavin's Theme



Jesus Christ Joey reappears in Lisa's house, where Gavin is doing.... he's... actually, I have no idea what the fuck he's doing, but it's a safe bet it has something to do with "feeding" on Rosa's positive energy. I'm not sure what I expected that to look like, but massive crackling beams of light bursting from his hands wasn't it.

The lighting effects here are really nice, although my low-quality GIF doesn't really show it off that well. There is also a constant crackling noise that accompanies Gavin's magic here.

Madeline, what the hell is going on?



Joey looks around, but Madeline is nowhere to be seen. Lisa's ghost, however, is floating around watching proceedings.

Now where did she go?
He is feeding on her. Draining her. It's how he stays alive.

So apparently Gavin is fucking magic. Again, I shouldn't be surprised - the feeding process had to be somewhat supernatural, and we've seen that magic exists in the Blackwell universe, with things like the Ouija boards summoning spirits. But this is pretty damn weird.

Yeah, I gathered that. How do you know so much about Gavin, all of a sudden?
I think I've always known. I just chose to ignore it. But it's crystal clear to me, now. Not that it matters.

I don't see how you could possibly have ignored this

So. How do I stop him?
Stop him? You can't. We're dead. Gavin will drain her dry. And then she'll be dead, too. And then we'll all haunt this house together.

Oh, hell no. No way is Joey going to let that happen.

That's not going to happen. Right. Just stay there.
What's the point.



Lisa floats away, while Gavin starts speaking to Rosa. I guess he's got to talk with her as part of his magical brainwashing/energy-devouring routine.

I gotta stop this guy before it's too late. She's not going out this way. Not if I have anything to say about it.

With no idea how to tackle the situation, Joey makes a beeline for Gavin...



...but finds it impossible to cross the path of the magic energy.

Whatever that stuff is, it packs a punch. No way I'm getting past it.

Of course, Joey could probably just go around the energy, or even float over it. But there'd be no point. He can't do anything to Gavin anyway.



With no other options left, Joey tries calling out to Rosa.

Hmmm? Joey?
Your spirit guide. He has returned?

Gavin sounds genuinely surprised here. Joey responds angrily.

Yeah, I've returned. Stop listening to this guy!
No... I can't talk to you. I have my own life now.
Not for long, you won't.
I don't know how you returned, spirit guide, but she is right. You can't convince her otherwise.

We'll see about that!



Do you want to be one of them?
They wanted to live. So do I.
This guy's killing you!
You're wrong. I've never felt so alive.

She's obviously deeply under Gavin's influence here.

Look. You know you can't turn your back on this life. You want to end up like your aunt and grandmother?
You don't know for sure that will happen.
Of course I do! I saw what happened when they tried to stop. They both ended up in the loony bin.
Does one have anything to do with the other? You're just guessing. You're in the dark as much as I am.



Now we reach the meat of this scene. We know of four lives that Gavin has either wrecked, or ended. Having investigated them, each has touched Rosa on some level. Joey needs to use those experiences to reach her.

Gavin murdered Jeremy, Red. You can't have forgotten that.
Jeremy?
I suggest you forget about Jeremy. He had years to reach out to you and never did.
That's... right. Why should I care about Jeremy?

Joey points out that Rosa cared for Jeremy.

Stop listening to this moron. He wasn't there. You wouldn't have gone so out of your way if you didn't care for him.
It was a mistake. I won't make it again.



Obviously, that was the wrong thing to say. The way this puzzle works is that you have to say the right thing about all four people in a row. If you get any of them wrong, Rosa kind of "resets" and you have to go back and do all four again.

However, there is some good exposition in the incorrect choices, so I'll run over them all here.

Of course Jeremy thought about you. He had your picture! Do you keep a picture of someone you don't think about?
Then why didn't he say anything before?
Why didn't you?
I dunno. Maybe I was too busy talking to the dead to bother with the living.
It's a mistake I won't make again.

Rosa hinted earlier in the game that she wasn't finding the whole ghostsaving thing as rewarding as she should be. It sounds like she harbours some resentment about having missed out on her actual life after having this medium business thrust upon her. It's probably reasonable for her to be resentful about it, too.

Whether you care about him or not. He didn't deserve what happened to him.
Jeremy isn't important.
You don't believe that.
You have no idea what I believe.

Rosa also harbours some resentment over Joey's attitude towards her.



The correct response to the Jeremy case is for Joey to show some tough love.

After all, there was no other reason for him to call you.
What?
Think about it. He was a successful reporter. What would you be to him? Just some crazy girl who talks to herself.
Maybe I could have told him. Maybe he would have understood.
Maybe you're right. Too bad we'll never know. Since Gavin killed him and everything.
...

It looks like Joey's starting to get through to Rosa.

Come on. Fight this!



Our partial victory is signified by Rosa turning ever-so-slightly away from Gavin. She is still well and truly caught in his web, however.

Course you can. One foot in front of the other.
Rosangela. Listen to me. Don't regress on me now. We've made such progress.
...

At this stage, Rosa's default portrait (which was her angry one) changes to the more concerned one.



I'm not like her. Jamie didn't know who she was. I do.

Next up is Jamie.

I know you too, Red. And this isn't it.
You don't know me at all, Joey. You never tried.
That's not true.
He is dead, Rosangela. In all the ways that count. He has nothing for you, now.
Why don't you shut the hell up!



That didn't work. Again, we see that Rosa is somewhat bitter about Joey's attitude towards her. It is no doubt exaggerated by Gavin's manipulation of her mind, but the thread must have existed in some small way.

Since we made the wrong choice, Rosa turns back to Gavin, signifying that we need to start again. For the sake of the LP though, we'll just continue with the Jamie conversation.

I'm not like her. Jamie didn't know who she was. I do.
So who, exactly, are you?
I'm someone who isn't going to listen to the dead any longer. That part of my life is over. I'm entering the next chapter.
Sure, if the next chapter takes place in the morgue. You don't want this.
I've never wanted anything more.

Asking Rosa who she is doesn't work. Next up, Joey tries pointing out that Gavin is responsible for Jamie's death.

Gavin killed her. Try and remember!
You don't know that for sure.
She told us herself!
She was in love with you, Joey. She would have told you anything.
It wasn't like that and you know it.
You might be able to charm stupid girls like her, but not me.

Once again, the proper solution is for Joey to dish out the tough love.



You're wrong. I know exactly who I am.
You're a medium. It's the only thing you're good at. And now you want to chuck it all away.
I am much more than that.
No. Right now, you are whatever this guy is telling you to be.
That's not true.
Then prove it.



Joey's words get through to Rosa, who faces a little further away.

Come on, Red! You know something's off about this.
Rosangela. You are not thinking clearly. You know what you have to do.
...

(Continued next post...)